CTCPA Virtual CONNection Meeting: Group Captives - An Alternative for the Commercial Insurance Marketplace

Overview

Successful and professionally managed companies recognize that proactive risk management and control of their insurance programs can contribute significantly to the bottom line.  Property and Casualty insurance can be in the top five operational costs impacting a company’s results. In the standard “Guaranteed Cost” market, companies must navigate an insurance industry characterized by volatile hard and soft market cycles, changes in “appetite” or risk tolerance for certain types of businesses, and the impact of catastrophic events and social inflation costs to the industry. In many cases, the premiums the insured is being charged rarely reflects the true claims experience of safety driven companies. Thus, the best performers are left subsidizing the lesser performers in their industry and the marketplace.

Group Captives offer sophisticated insurance consumers in the Middle Market size and above to the means to leave the unpredictability of the Guaranteed Cost market behind and take advantage of modern risk transfer insurance arrangements. Captives provide greater control over current costs and improve safety and risk management. It is equally important to note that unlike the Guaranteed Cost market, good experience can be rewarded with returns of unused premiums and enhanced by investment income.

In this discussion, we will review how insureds can explore other options for transferring insurable risks such as General Liability, Auto Liability and Workers Compensation using member-owned group captives. The program provides an overview of the member-owned group captive model, review of the benefits to insureds, and member case studies highlighting their experience in this setting.

Objectives

• Determine similarities and diggerences between member-owned group captives and guaranteed cost programs
• Understand what a member-owned group captive is
• Review what industries best fit the captive model
• Identify what is an ideal candidate for a member-owned group captive
• Discuss benefits for insureds and provide examples
• Provide an educational foundation for how the insurance marketplace functions
• Understand other alternative risk financing vehicles
• Review Favorable Tax Treatment of returned premiums and investment income

Highlights

• Industry insight
• Alternative risk financing
• Hard vs. Soft market cycles
• Investment
• Long-term viability
• Control
• Risk Management
• Safety

Designed For

• CPAs, CFOs, and Controllers
• Financial Advisors and Professionals in Industry with oversight of risk management
• General knowledge for CPAs in both Audit and Tax
• CPA Partners and Senior Managers in an advisory capacity for their Commercial Clientele